STAIND
Following on from the release of Staind’s ‘Live in Mohegan Sun’ album, what we have now is a Blu-ray version featuring the full concert and a few lovely little extras to get your eyes and ears around. The tracklist for the main feature is the same as the CD version with the addition of ‘Country Boy’. Heaven knows why it wasn’t included on the album but I’m sure they had their reasons.
It’s pretty much as to be expected in terms of the performance: the musician-only members of the band get to be more animated than Aaron Lewis, who’s too busy going full throttle at the emotion. Either way, they’re not just sitting back and letting it happen. It does kind of sum up Staind (if you like them, that is), namely solid music to accompany an outpouring of emotion. Obviously no matter how well done a recording is, it’s never going to match the experience of being there although at least when you’re watching this one at home you’re not going to be blinded by a slightly over zealous person who’s been put in charge of lighting. Might be best to avoid if you suffer from epilepsy. From an artistic point of view, it’s a fairly standard, multi-camera, multi-angle fare but why mess with a formula that works?
There’s already a review written about the audio side of the release elsewhere on this site so I’m not going to trudge over old ground too much here but I will mention the additional track that was omitted from the CD version, ‘Country Boy’. It does sort of stick out like a sore thumb from the rest of the set in terms of, well, everything. It’s just Aaron singing some sort of country socio-political statement (maybe) with an acoustic guitar. As someone who doesn’t like country music, I could do without it but if that’s your bag then here’s a glimpse of Aaron’s solo album. Maybe there was a good reason it was omitted from the CD then.
Sound-wise, there’s DTS Digital Surround Sound, Dolby Digital Stereo and Dolby Surround 5.1 for those with a fancier set up than me where it actually makes a difference. There’s also a subtitles option that I was hoping would allow some sing-a-long Staind but unfortunately it only works on the extras. In terms of extras there’s an interview with the band and a look around Mike Mushok’s live rig. Both are probably only of interest to the die-hard Staind fans although the interview mainly tells the story of the band, which may be old news to them, and the usual new album talk.
Overall, it’s a nice little package although, weirdly, the visuals don’t add much to the audio (or I should say not having them doesn’t detract from the audio?) As someone who has listened to the album it is nice to see where it came from and put the performance in some sort of visual context but it wasn’t some massive life changing live performance. Musically excellent but visually a bit lacking.
It’s pretty much as to be expected in terms of the performance: the musician-only members of the band get to be more animated than Aaron Lewis, who’s too busy going full throttle at the emotion. Either way, they’re not just sitting back and letting it happen. It does kind of sum up Staind (if you like them, that is), namely solid music to accompany an outpouring of emotion. Obviously no matter how well done a recording is, it’s never going to match the experience of being there although at least when you’re watching this one at home you’re not going to be blinded by a slightly over zealous person who’s been put in charge of lighting. Might be best to avoid if you suffer from epilepsy. From an artistic point of view, it’s a fairly standard, multi-camera, multi-angle fare but why mess with a formula that works?
There’s already a review written about the audio side of the release elsewhere on this site so I’m not going to trudge over old ground too much here but I will mention the additional track that was omitted from the CD version, ‘Country Boy’. It does sort of stick out like a sore thumb from the rest of the set in terms of, well, everything. It’s just Aaron singing some sort of country socio-political statement (maybe) with an acoustic guitar. As someone who doesn’t like country music, I could do without it but if that’s your bag then here’s a glimpse of Aaron’s solo album. Maybe there was a good reason it was omitted from the CD then.
Sound-wise, there’s DTS Digital Surround Sound, Dolby Digital Stereo and Dolby Surround 5.1 for those with a fancier set up than me where it actually makes a difference. There’s also a subtitles option that I was hoping would allow some sing-a-long Staind but unfortunately it only works on the extras. In terms of extras there’s an interview with the band and a look around Mike Mushok’s live rig. Both are probably only of interest to the die-hard Staind fans although the interview mainly tells the story of the band, which may be old news to them, and the usual new album talk.
Overall, it’s a nice little package although, weirdly, the visuals don’t add much to the audio (or I should say not having them doesn’t detract from the audio?) As someone who has listened to the album it is nice to see where it came from and put the performance in some sort of visual context but it wasn’t some massive life changing live performance. Musically excellent but visually a bit lacking.
LABEL:
FORMAT:
Eagle Rock Entertainment
Blu-ray
LIVE FROM MOHEGAN SUN
Review by Siân Williams
RUNNING TIME:
116 mins
RELEASE DATE:
27th August 2012
TRACK LISTING
1) Eyes Wide Open; 2) Falling; 3) Right Here; 4) Throw It All Away; 5) Spleen; 6) Fade; 7) Failing; 8) So Far Away; 9) Crawl; 10) Countrry Boy; 11) For You; 12) Paper Wings; 13) Outside; 14) Not Again; 15) It's Been Awhile; 16) Mudshovel; 17) Something to Remind You
Bonus Features: Interview with the band; Mike Mushok's live rig
Bonus Features: Interview with the band; Mike Mushok's live rig
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN:
USA
"It does kind of sum up Staind...namely solid music to accompany an outpouring of emotion."
